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Civil rights Keyed to Jeffries, 5th Ed.
Scheuer v. Rhodes
Citation:
416 U.S. 232 (1974)Facts
In May 1970, amid nationwide protests against the Vietnam War, demonstrations occurred at Kent State University in Ohio. Governor James Rhodes declared a state of emergency and deployed the Ohio National Guard to the campus. On May 4, 1970, National Guard troops opened fire on student demonstrators, killing four students and wounding nine others. The personal representatives of the estates of three deceased students filed civil rights actions under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Governor Rhodes, the Adjutant General of the Ohio National Guard and his assistant, various National Guard officers and enlisted personnel, and the president of Kent State University. The complaints alleged that the defendants, acting under color of state law, “intentionally, recklessly, willfully and wantonly” caused an unnecessary deployment of the National Guard and ordered Guard members to perform illegal actions resulting in the deaths. The District Court dismissed the complaints without requiring answers, ruling that the suits were effectively against the State of Ohio and thus barred by the Eleventh Amendment, and alternatively that the officials were protected by executive immunity.
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